A Tokyo ward has installed outdoor AI cameras with facial recognition capabilities to help locate missing children and elderly people, a move aimed at improving public safety but also raising privacy concerns in Japan.
Arakawa ward installed 33 artificial intelligence-equipped security cameras on pylons along the main street and elsewhere near the JR Nippori Station in April to test whether the technology could speed up searches for missing persons.
The busy area around the station is frequented by commuters, students and foreign residents.
If a child or elderly person with dementia goes missing, family members can ask the ward to conduct an AI-assisted search by providing a photograph. The AI then scans recorded footage for people closely matching the image.
The ward believes that this is the first outdoor deployment of AI facial recognition security cameras by a local Japanese government, and hopes that it will help to find missing people more quickly.
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